Church breaks 300 year-old roots

With a new rector at the helm, St. James Church in Elmhurst is emerging from under the cloud of its break with the Episcopal Church.
For about a year, St. James Anglican Church has quietly been making the transition to the Anglican Church in America, tossing away its 300-year-old Episcopal roots for a stricter adherence to Church doctrines.
“Today people are looking for traditional values,” said Rev. David Leo, who was installed as rector of the Church this month. “[The Episcopal Church] has strayed from the doctrines; they’ve strayed from the faith, and they are conforming to main-stream society.”
While the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island is part of the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in America is a branch of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. The switch last April was nearly a unanimous one, according to Church officials.
St. James isn’t the first Episcopal Church to break away. More than a dozen U.S. congregations in the have separated from the Episcopal Church after an openly gay bishop was elected in 2003.
The Episcopal Church’s interpretations of the Bible - including ones on family values and homosexuality - turned off St. James members, including Senior Warden Carlo J. Saavedra, who said the Episcopal Church was “prostituting themselves.”
With the separation, St. James became the largest Anglican Church in the Northeast, equipped with a large auditorium, meeting halls, a mini-courtyard and cemetery, and launched themselves into a legal battle with their Episcopal predecessors.
St. James Church filed suit in October to claim the four parcels of land where the Church is located, and the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island responded in December with their claim on the land.
Mark Jakubik, who is representing St. James, said the property’s economic value is high because of St. James’ urban location. “But to the people at St. James the property has a value far beyond its economic worth.”
In 1704, Rev. William Urquhart established St. James Church of Newtown, and in 1734, the original structure was built three blocks away from where St. James now stands. Jakubik said he hopes the lawsuit will be settled sometime this year.
Amidst the litigation, Rev. Leo, a former Catholic priest newly planted in Queens from Rochester, NY, is in a flurry of planning - Bible studies, youth groups, and ethnic food dinners - to spark interest in the Church.
“After Lent, we will be going full-speed ahead,” he promised.